Bonding after neuter

[Ciara]

Hello, 

I currently have two male rabbits who are separated (have their own cage) they both have time outside of their cage and up until recently had lived together. I went away for the night and my mum looked after the rabbits and a fight broke out, luckily after been separated they groomed each other, so it did not end on bad terms. When I returned, I made the decision that they needed to be separated until a month after their neuter to allow their hormones to die down. One rabbit is a netherland dwarf, aged 14 weeks (possibly booked in for neuter next Monday if the vet thinks he is ready) and the other is a mini lop aged 12 weeks. The netherland dwarf started the scuffle, but ended up the worst one off. I have a few questions:

1) Should the cages be kept in separate rooms? They both are allowed to roam the downstairs of the house and are currently both in the kitchen but one cage is on top of the other.

2) Is it recommended to get a stuffed rabbit toy and make it smell of the each rabbit and put it in the rabbits cages?

3) After neuter and hormones have died down, the only completely neutral space is the bathroom. What is classed as semi-neutral?

4) Should I swap the cages they’re in? So each day they swap cages?

Thank you!

[Deleted User]

It’s a good thing that you separated them.

1) How bad was the fight? Sometimes if it’s a minor scuffle and they both were fine after the fight was broken up, it can be fine to house them near each other. However, if the fight was quite bad and either bun was injured (even a scratch that broke the skin) then they need to be put in separate rooms so that they can get over the fight and not be constantly reminded because they smell the other bunny.

2) The stuffed animal can be a great tool in pre bonding. It does, however follow the same rules as above. Bad fight= no stuffy for at least a few weeks until they have had time to forget about each other. The stuffy smelling like the other rabbit can trigger aggression and cause it to take longer for them to get over their fight.

3) For semi neutral, some people buy an xpen and put down a brand new blanket under it so it creates a sort of semi neutral.

4) As with the other things, if their fight was bad then hold off on switching their pens. But if it wasn’t a bad fight and they aren’t aggressive toward each other, then you can start with prebonding and get their neuters, then continue prebonding for 1 month after the neuters.

[Sirius&Luna]

Hello!

1. How bad was the fight? Did either end up bleeding? If either bunny was seriously injured during the fight, then it is normally recommended to keep them in separate rooms, out of sight and smell of each other for at least 1 month. This is so that they can forget about the fight, and stop holding grudges over it. Since your two don’t seem to be holding a grudge, you might be able to skip this step, however, its probably best to do it just to be on the safe side. I’ll let others advise.

2. Yes, but make sure it doesn’t have beady eyes they might swallow. You could also just swap litter trays, blankets, toys etc.

3. I still don’t really understand what semi-neutral space is! I’m still in the neutral stage with my two.I think its a space they’ve both been in, but neither lives in. 

4. I would wait and do the cage swapping after they are both neutered. You’ll need to wait at least a month after they are both neutered before introducing them, so once they’re healed (probably after a week or so) you can start swapping them between cages.

[Ciara]

The fight resulted in the netherland dwarf (Herbert) receiving a bite mark on his side. I don’t think my mum realised it could escalate so quickly and wasn’t prepared. I am a bit concerned that the whole downstairs smells of each other anyway, they both rub their chin on everything so they are still aware of one and others smells.

Thank you for all the other help, I think I will try the blanket idea

[Ciara]

The netherland (Herbert) ended up with a bite mark on his side from Percy. But they have been near each other since and the whole downstairs of the house must smell of them both as they are still allowed out separately. I may keep them within sight of each other, at the moment one cage is on top of the other (the cages are more than big enough for them and they get a lot of free running time).

Do you have any tips on bonding please, since you’re going through it yourself at the moment? 

I can’t wait for them to be neutered in hope they will finally get along again and hopefully bond! Herbert really came out of his shell when we brought Percy home, so although they fought, I do think they could be good for one and other in the future.

Thank you for your help

[Sirius&Luna]

Me and BunNoob are both going through bonding at the moment, you can read both of our threads on the process in this forum, which might be helpful for you.

I would say with bonding, since they’ve had a fight, don’t be afraid to over -intervene at the beginning. It’s better to not let them interact too much and prevent a fight, than let them be too free and have a big fight. I spent the whole first session with my two stopping them getting too close to each other. I think this let them get used to not seeing the other as a threat, and while we’ve had a couple of scuffles, it’s been nowhere near as bad as I was anticipating (Luna bit Atlas through the cage when we first brought him home, and I really thought they’d never be friends. A professional bonder also failed with them).

I also start off giving them food, so that seeing each other is positive, and BunNoob starts off by stroking them together, again so its a positive experience for them.

[Deleted User]

hahah it’s funny because I have pretty much the same advice as Sirius & Luna!!

As for bonding, I would say:

prebond, prebond, prebond! Yours have been together already though, so hopefully they will be an easy bond for you but I would say to still do 1 month of prebonding following their neuters just to be sure that they are comfortable with each other. Look for signs of fear, stress, or aggression when you switch enclosures. When I would switch my male and female during prebonding, my female would absolutely freak out when she came back into her space and it smelled like him. She would run around frantically, thump, and attack your feet if you walked by. She eventually stopped doing that so I knew that we had made some progress.

Some people may tell you not to intervene so much and to let them sort it out. However, I agree with Sirius and Luna here. My female was known to be a bit aggressive so during the first session I had a dustpan in my hand and when they went to touch each other I stuck it in between them. When you first start out I think it is best to ensure that they have only positive experiences.

I start sessions with a salad, or some pellets. I put it in one spot (but you might want to start with two in case a fight breaks out over food) and after they finish eating I would squash them together and pet them side by side for about 10 minutes.

Don’t put litter boxes down at first. I didn’t know this, and I had a fight break out in the litter box. I’ve been bonding for three weeks and I still don’t have litter trays in sessions because they haven’t sorted out dominance. They get along just fine, but it is clear that neither bun knows their “place” yet.

[Ciara]

Thank you both for your advice.

Herbert is quite easy to read, but Percy doesn’t seem to really have any telling signs of how he is feeling (he is the mini lop), so is there any subtle signs to look for?

I think I will intervene because I don’t want them to ruin the friendship .

As with letterboxes, neither seem to know to use them even with encouragement, which is frustrating, but I have read that it is easier after neuter. So they are not territorial over them because they’re just another place to sit…

[Sirius&Luna]

It’s important to be close to them, and have thick gloves on, or a dustpan/similar to put between them in case you don’t catch the early signs and they attack each other.

Look out for pricked up alert ears, a stuck up tail, or lunging.

You can also find bunny bonding videos that will give you a good idea of what positive/neutral/negative behaviour looks like. These are a good place to start http://www.allearssac.org/videobondingsteps.html

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